Zenitude: From Cairns to Lizard – Stopping along the way

Low Isles

On September 17 we finally left Cairns to continue our trip north towards places where we don’t expect to have much shopping available. We left with enough supplies to ensure we wouldn’t starve and with 650 litres of fresh water, a precious item at the moment. Our water maker (for water desalination) is not working and any additional water to replenish Zenitude’s fresh water tanks will need to be carried in jugs. We left knowing that Lizard Island has fresh water available for that.

We decided to stop first at Low Isles, famous for tourism out of Port Douglas since it is not far from there. So it was quite crowded when we arrived in the middle of the afternoon and we couldn’t believe it when we found a mooring free and available to us. Marine Parks has installed three moorings there but with the settled weather the other boats seemed to be happily at anchor.

As soon as we were securely attached to the mooring we put the dinghy down and off we went to visit the island where the historical light house is. You can only visit the island during daylight hours to provide privacy for the islands full time residents. When we landed most of the tourist boats were loading the people from the beach and onto their boats for the trip back to Port Douglas, at that point dinghies from other cruising boats started to land on the beach. There is a little track that takes you thru the small buildings in the island which are the lighthouse, the keeper’s house now occupied by the Low Isles caretaker and the assistant keeper’s house that has been converted into a research station.

This complex of islets is unusual as it has a small coral cay (Low Island) and a larger uninhabited mangrove island (Woody Island). Both share the same large coral platform with a sheltered lagoon that provides excellent anchorage. Woody Island is home to thousands of birds and you can hear them at sunset when they get ready for the night sleep. It seems there is a lot of discussion about which tree belongs to whom.

Mangroves and birds in Woody Island

The lighthouse

The keeper’s house

Low Island sunset

East Hope Island

From Low Isles we headed to East Hope Island, another outstanding place. There are 2 public moorings there but there is good anchorage space as well. The entrance is a bit tricky but easy with good visibility.

Arrival at the island was a bit stressful as the starboard engine decided to start beeping just when we were approaching so we had to stop that engine. Later we found the problem was once again an electrical problem and we didn’t lose the engine, just the alternator, resulting in no charging of batteries from that engine. Oh well, back to work on that engine again.

There is a nice beach and we soon went onshore and walked around the island which is quite small.

Cairns Reef

With settled weather we decided to spend a day at Cairns Reef, a u shaped reef with easy access and great sandy patches to anchor comfortably.

We had great expectations for the snorkeling there but the tides were not helping on that day and visibility was not that good. So, there are no underwater pictures this time.

Cape Flattery

Our last stop before Lizard, this anchorage is wide and very calm, a great stop for an overnight before the last leg just 18 miles to our destination.

The beach was busy with campers and 4WDs. We’ve been told it is a beautiful beach with white silica sand but we were tired and didn’t go ashore.